o 

Z 

z 


o 
z 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

o 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


= 


..  The  ... 


Story  of  Juan  Cruz 


BY 


WILLIAM  E.  JOHNSON 

Former  Chief  Special  Officer  of  the 
United  States  Indian  Service 


HJ 
[o] 


"If  thou  faint  in  the  days  of  adversity,  thy  strength 
is  small.  If  thou  forbear  to  deliver  them  that  are 
drawn  unto  death,  and  those  that  are  ready  to  be 
slain;  if  thou  sayest,  Behold  we  knew  it  not;  doth 
not  He  that  ponder eth  the  heart  consider  it?  and  he 
that  keepeth  my  soul,  doth  He  not  know  it?  and  shall 
not  He  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works," 
-PROVERBS,  XXIV:  10-12. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  MOINTEZUMA 

Montezuma  was  born  in  Pecos  pueblo.  He  rode  southward 
on  the  back  of  an  eagle,  followed  by  the  people.  Wherever  he 
alighted  for  the  night,  a  pueblo  was  built.  At  the  last  stop, 
the  eagle  alighted  on  a  cactus  bush  and  was  devoured  by  a 
snake.  On  this  spot  the  City  of  Mexico  was  built. 

In  these  pueblos  or  villages,  for  many  centuries,  something 
like  six  thousand  Indians  have  lived.  They  are  a  happy,  trust 
ful,  poetic,  religious  people,  full  of  human  sympathy,  full  of 
mysticism.  They  wove  cotton  cloth  before  America  was  dis 
covered.  They  built  Christian  churches  of  their  own  before 
the  Mayflower  arrived.  They  constructed  mills  and  ground 
their  corn.  Their  houses  are  now  and  always  have  been  equal 
or  superior  in  cleanliness,  in  their  substantial  character,  to 
those  of  their  American  or  Mexican  neighbors. 

These  villagers,  with  their  herds  and  fields,  lived  in  com 
munion  with  spiritual  things.  In  the  Moon  of  the  Shearing, 
they  harvested  their  wool.  In  the  Planting  Time  of  the  Corn, 
the  seeds  were  covered,  with  ceremony  and  prayer.  The 
Reader  of  the  Stars  of  Puye  interpreted  the  Heavens.  When 
the  Sun  went  on  the  South  Trail,  the  priest  of  the  Winter  Clan 
got  out  his  ceremonial  bowl  and  repaired  to  the  Kiva,  there  to 
commune  with  the  Ruler  of  Magic.  They  wooed  the  Maid  of 
the  Corn  Silk  Hair.  They  lived,  married,  and  gave  in  mar 
riage  until  there  approached  the  Shadows  at  the  End  of  the 
Trail,  always  with  faith  in  the  Great  Mystery. 


To  FRIENDS  OF  THE  INDIANS. — While  this  pamphlet  is  for  gratuitous 
distribution,  the  actual  cost  of  printing,  binding  and  mailing  is 
about  four  cents  each  in  ten  thousand  lots.  Friends  wishing 
to  aid  in  protecting  these. Indians  are  invited  to  send  in  lists  of 
addresses  of  any  size  together  with  four  cents  for  each  name  to 
cover  the  expense.  Or  send  in  a  check  for  as  many  pamphlets 
as  desired  and  they  will  be  mailed  to  clergy  lists,  "Who's  Who" 
lists,  etc.  It  is  hoped  that  a  situation  may  be  created  whereby 
it  will  be  impossible  for  another  such  series  of  outrages  to  be  in 
flicted  upon  a  dependent  people  for  a  generation  to  come. 

Address :  William  E.  Johnson,  Laurel,  Maryland. 


YflAHFHJ  TIC 


JUAN    CRUZ 


THE  STORY  OF  JUAN    CRUZ.  3 

And  when  the  Priests  of  the  White  God  came  from  the 
South,  bearing  aloft  the  Cross,  the  people  believed,  and,  with 
their  own  hands,  built  Christian  churches, — churches  that  are 
still  standing  as  the  chief  thing  in  the  village  life,  though  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  have  passed. 

THE  PUEBLO  DE  SANTA  CLARA 

It  is  of  one  of  these  pueblos,  that  of  Santa  Clara,  the  most 
progressive  of  them  all,  that  this  narrative  chiefly  relates.  In 
1689  the  Spanish  Crown  granted  this  pueblo  a  "league"  of 
land  surrounding  their  church,  comprising  17,368  acres.  The 
title  of  this  was  confirmed  by  Act  of  Congress,  Dec.  22,  1858, 
and  is  still  held  by  the  Indians,  except  some  small  tracts  that 
they  have  sold  from  time  to  time,  and  some  huge  tracts  that 
they  have  been  juggled  out  of  through  the  maladministration 
of  the  U.  S.  Indian  officials  in  New  Mexico.  Of  this,  about 
eight  thousand  acres  were  stolen  from  the  Indians  in  one  deal. 
Eighteen  years  ago,  one  Smith  induced  the  Santa  Clara  In 
dians  to  sign  what  they  supposed  to  be  a  right  of  way  for  a 
road  through  the  land.  When  the  paper  turned  up  for  record, 
in  later  years,  it  proved  to  be  a  deed  to  all  of  the  Pueblo  lands 
East  of  the  Rio  Grande  River,  comprising  about  eight  thou 
sand  acres.  Smith  transferred  the  land  to  one  Hobart,  who 
claimed  to  be  an  "innocent  purchaser."  On  account  of  pro 
tests,  Judge  William  H.  Pope,  as  attorney  for  the  Indians, 
filed  suit  to  set  aside  the  deed.  But  Judge  Pope  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  Philippines,  and  A.  J.  Abbott  was  appointed  as 
attorney  for  the  Pueblo  Indians  in  his  stead. 

BUT  A.  J.  ABBOTT  WAS  THE;  ATTORNEY  FOR  HOBART  IN  THE 
SIGHT  THOUSAND  ACRE  LAND  DEAL.  THIS  APPOINTMENT  WAS 
MADE  UNDER  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CLINTON  J.  CRANDALL, 
THE  PRESENT  INDIAN  SUPERINTENDENT  AT  SANTA  FE. 

THAT  SUIT  FOR  THE  INDIANS  WAS  ALLOWED  TO  GO  BY  DE 
FAULT  UNDER  CRANDALL'S  ADMINISTRATION  OF  AFFAIRS. 

For  seven  years  the  Santa  Clara  Indians  have  clamored  for 
the  reopening  of  the  suit.  It  was  not  until  the  complaints  be 
gan  to  become  public  that  F.  S.  Wilson,  the  present  attorney 
for  the  Pueblo  Indians,  would  consent  to  apply  for  the  reopen 
ing  of  the  case.  And  when  he  did  "reopen"  it,  he  forgot  to 
set  up  the  only  grounds  upon  which  he  could  reasonably  hope 
to  win — the  ground  of  "fraud." 

E.  C.  Abbott,  a  son  of  A.  J.  Abbott,  then  became  attorney 
for  the  Hobart  interests.  Wilson  did  not  wish  to  set  up  the 
ground  of  "fraud"  because  it  might  "hurt  Abbott's  feelings." 
Last  May,  after  the  investigations  of  Inspector  Shelby  M. 
Sineleton  (whose  report  is  carefully  'Concealed  in  the  Interior 
Department),  criticisms  led  to  the  introduction  of  fraud  as  a 


4  Tin;   STORY   OF   JUAN    CRUZ. 

basis  for  the  suit.  Abbott  was  the  special  counsel  employed 
by  unknown  parties  to  assist  in  the  prosecution  of  Juan  Cruz. 
He  has  since  been  elected  District  Judge,  and  the  Hobart  claim 
will  come  up  in  his  court  for  adjudication. 

THE  CANADA  DE  SANTA  CLARA 

On  July  19,  1763,  Gov.  Tomas  Velez  Cachupin,  upon  the 
representations  of  Padre  Mariano  Rodriquez  de  la  Terre, 
made  an  additional  grant  to  the  Santa  Clara  Pueblo  of  "  the 
whole  of  the  Valley  of.  Santa  Clara,  which  runs  westward  as 
for  as  the  mountains,  and  in  which  is  situated  the  tract  of  land 
granted  to  Juan  and  Antonio  Tafoya,  and  in  it  no  settler  shall 
be  allowed  or  any  grant  made."  The  Tafoya  grants  mentioned 
were  conditional  grants.  The  conditions  were  not  observed, 
and  the  grants  were  later  cancelled.  'Under  the  Cachupin 
grant,  settlers  were  frequently  removed  and  the  Indians  pro 
tected  in  their  rights.  This  grant  was  confirmed  by  the  Court 
of  Private  Land  Claims,  in  1894,  and  was  commonly  supposed 
to  consist  of  about  ninety  thousand  acres  of  land. 

Then  there  followed  eight  years  of  legal  surveys  and 
squabbling  over  the  interpretation  of  the  "valley"  or  Canada  of 
Santa  Clara.  Early  in  the  administration  of  Superintendent 
Crandall,  the  canwda  was  judicially  determined  to  mean  the 
"canon"  of  Santa  Clara  River,  and  the  ninety  thousand  acres 
of  land  dwindled  to  about  nine  hundred  acres,  which  were 
patented  to  the  Indians.  "God  gave  us  the  land,  but  the 
United  States  surveyed  us  out  of  it,"  explained  the  venerable 
and  beloved  Francisco  Naranjo. 

The  outcry  of  the  Indians  at  this  loss  of  their  lands  reached 
the  ears  of  Frances  E.  Leupp,  who  was  then  Commissioner. 
Through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Leupp,  a  portion  of  these  lands, 
amounting  to  about  30,000  acres,  were  restored  to  the  Indians 
in  the  form  of  an  "Executive  Order"  Indian  Reservation,  at 
the  hands  of  President  Roosevelt. 

"Rut  the  Indians  were  not  destined  to  get  the  benefit  of  even 
this  Executive  Order  land.  Through  the  manipulation  of 
Superintendent  Crandall,  a  "deal"  with  the  Forest  Service 
by  which  the  cattle  of  American  and  Mexicans  grazing  on  the 
Jemez  Forest  Reserve,  were  to  be  permitted  to  water  in  the 
Santa  Clara  River,  within  the  Santa  Clara  lands.  In  lieu  of 
this,  the  various  pueblos  were  to  be  allowed  to  graze  two 
thousand  head  of  cattle  on  the  Jemez  Forest  Reserve. 

The  way  this  deal  worked  out  under  Crandall's  adminis 
tration  was  this : 

T.  The  Indian  cattle  on  the  Forest  Reserve  would  habitu 
ally  "disappear."  The  cattle  did  not  "disappear"  on  anv 
other  range,  so  the  Indian?  were  thus  forced  to  withdraw  their 


THE   STORY   OF  JUAN  «CRUZ.  5 

cattle  from  the  Jemez  Forest  range,  and  even  from  their  own 
'Executive  Order  reservation,  and  pasture  their  cattle  where 
they  could,  many  of  them  hiring  pasturage  of  private  land 
owners. 

2.  The  American  and  Mexican  politicians,  under  color  of 
this  "deal,"  took  possession  of  the  Indian  thirty-thousand-acre 
reservation  and  also  of  their  fee  simple  lands,  and  held  pos 
session  for  seven  years  without  compensation  to  the  Indians. 

Again  and  again  did  the  Indians  complain.  Again  and 
again  did  the  priest  of  the  parish,  Father  Haelterman  protest. 
Seven  months  ago  Commissioner  Valentine  tr\ei  to  correct 
the  injustice,  but  was  balked  by  the  Department  intrigues  of 
Assistant  Commissioner  Abbott.  Both  Singleton  and  myself 
personally  pleaded  with  Abbott  in  behalf  of  the  Indians.  One 
friend  of  the  Indians  personally  pleaded  with  Assistant  Sec 
retary  Adams,  but  the  only  reply  of  Adams  was :  "Oh  hell ; 
there  are-  a  lot  of  white  and  Mexican  cattlemen  down  there 
whose  interests  we  have  got  to  consider  as  well  as  the 
Indians." 

Adams  sustained  Crandall  and  Abbott  in  their  manoeuvers 
to  keep  the  cattle  on  the  land  as  late  :as  September.  On  Octo 
ber  first,  I  left  the  Government  service  and  exposed  this 
outrage  in  the  newspapers.  The  Department  thereupon  per 
mitted  Commissioner  Valentine  to  hurry  down  to  New  Mexico 
and  order  the  cattle  driven  off.  In  this  act,  the  outcries  of  the 
Indians  for  seven  years  were  justified.  It  required  seven 
years  of  protests  an-d  finally  a  public  scandal  to  induce  the 
Department  to  correct  this  robbery. 

SOME  VAGARIES— DRUG  STORE  WHISKEY 

In  the  meantime,  the  Indians  began  accusing  Superinten 
dent  Crandall  of  selling  whisky  illegally  at  his  drug  store  iri 
Santa  Fe.  They  worked  up  evidence  in  three  good  cases 
against  the  store  and  tried  to  get  indictments  from  the  grand 
jury.  The  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  was  a  partner  with 
Crandall  in  the  drug  store.  The  District  Attorney  is  the 
attorney  for  the  Hobart  land  interests  against  the  Indians  and 
was  the  one  employed  by  interested  parties  to  assist  in  the 
prosecution  of  Juan  Cruz  in  Rio  Arriba  County.  The  In 
dians  naturally  got  no  indictments  against  Crandall's  store. 

This,  together  with  complaints  about  their  being  plundered 
of  their  lands,  enraged  Superintendent  Crandall  and  he  started 
out  on  a  campaign  of  revenge.  He  proposed  to  the  Indian 
Office  as  a  "punishment"  for  the  Santa  Clara  Indians  that 
they  be  deprived  of  their  Executive  Order  reservation,  that 
some  additional  land  be  added  and  that  the  whole  amount  be 
created  into  an  Executive  Order  reservation  for  the  benefit 


THE  STORY  OF  JUAN    CKLZ.  7 

of  all  of  the  Tehuas  Indians,  of  which  the  Santa  Claras  are 
but  a  small  part.  Assistant  Commissioner  Abbott  promptly 
got  in  behind  the  plot  to  plunder  the  Santa  Claras,  but  he  was 
crafty  enough  to  not  call  it  a  "punishment."  He  put  on  his 
benevolent  face  and  solemnly  talked  about  his  scheme  to  "be 
nefit  the  Pueblo  Indians  by  getting  them  more  land."  The 
plot  was  tantamount  to  a  proposal  to  rob  the  Irish  of  their  do 
main  and  give  the  land  to  the  Scotch  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  Abbott  had  this  plunder  scheme  nearly 
through  the  Interior  Department  when  it  was  temporarily 
blocked  through  the  efforts  of -Inspector  Singleton. 
A  STUDY  IN  HUMAN  SYMPATHY 

Eight  years  ago,  there  came  to  the  Santa  Clara  Pueblo,  as 
"government  housekeeper,"  Mrs.  Francis  D.  True,  the  widow 
of  a  Confederate  Army  officer.  Her  daughter,  Clara  D.  True, 
was  installed  as  "teacher"  in  the  Government  Indian  school. 
It  was  a  "grass-hopper  year,"  and  Indian  crops  were  well-nigh 
nil.  The  following  winter,  came  a  dreadful  epidemic  of 
diphtheria  of  the  most  malignant  type.  Within  two  weeks  one- 
tenth  of  the  entire  village  died.  Fourteen  children  out  of  the 
Indian  school  were  buried.  In  a  frenzy  of  terror,  the  Indians 
drove  away  the  doctor.  The  military  were  appealed  to,  but 
refused  to  take  a  hand  because  the  Indians  were  "citizens." 
The  Territorial  Board  of  Health  refused  aid  because  the  In 
dians  were  "not  citizens."  Superintendent  Crandall,  who  dis 
played  -great  energy  in  keeping  away  from  the  danger  zone, 
finally  wired  Miss  True  to  do  the  best  she  could. 

For  two  weeks,  no  white  person  came  to  the  village  except 
Father  Haelterman,  the  devoted  parish  priest.  In  that  time. 
Mrs.  True  and  her  daughter  renovated  and  fumigated  sixty 
Indian  homes — every  house  in  the  village.  They  burned  the 
old  bedding  and  blankets.  They  pacified  and  comforted  the 
Indians.  They  purchased  on  their  own  credit  new  bedding, 
new  blankets,  disinfectants,  groceries  and  supplies.  They 
stamped  out  the  epidemic.  Crandall  did  not  come  till  "the 
grass  came,"  the  Indians  tell  me. 

Then  Miss  True  sought  Superintendent  Crandall's  aid  in 
inducing  the  Gjovernment  to  re-imburse  her  for  the  bedding, 
blankets  and  supplies  purchased  during  the  epidemic.  He  flat 
ly  refused.  "You  had  no  authority  to  make  those  purchases." 
he  angrily  declared,  "and  I  will  just  make  an  example  of  you 
for  exceeding  your  authority  in  this  way;  you  will  have  to  pay 
for  those  things  yourself." 

And  for  two  years  Mother  True  and  her  daughter  set  aside 
a  portion  of  their  salary  each  month  in  paying-  these  bills  on 
the  installment  plan. 


8  THE  STORY  OF  JUAN    CRIZ. 

Out  of  this  warp  and  woof  was  woven  the  devotion  that  has 
since  existed  on  the  part  of  these  Indians  for  their  fornu-r 
teacher,  Clara  D.  True,  a  devotion  that  has  been  perfected  and 
amplified  in  a  thousand  different  acts  during  the  eight  years  that 
have  followed.  "Miss  True  is  the  only  sister  that  I  have," 
said  old  Francisco  Xaranjo  to  me  one  day  as  a  big  tear  trick 
led  down  the  furrows  of  his  swarthy  face.  "I  want  to  maka  da 
straight  way  for  my  people,  and  you  and  Miss  True  must  show 
me  how,"  said  Governor  Santiago  to  me  one  morning  after 
we  'had  spent  the  night  together,  rolled  in  the  same  blanket,  up 
in  a  mountain  canon.  "As  long  as  I  live,  Senora  True  will  be 
my  mother,"  said  Leandro  Tafoya  to  me  one  day,  while  I  was 
trying  to  help  him  locate  the  boundaries  of  the  new  village 
school  grounds.  Leandro  will  be  ninety-one  years  old  next 
February,  and  is  twenty-five  years  older  thas  his  "mother." 

Last  July,  in  Santa  Clara  Canon,  the  flood  tore  out  all  the 
Indian  farms  that  the  Mexican  cattle  had  not  destroyed.  Stock 
was  drowned  and  orchards  wiped  out.  Mrs.  True  and  her 
daughter,  with  their  friend,  Mary  T.  Bryan,  at  once  gave  nec 
essary  immediate  supplies  to  relieve  distress  and  put  a  dozen 
of  the  Indian  men  at  work  on  their  ranch  at  good  wages,  as  a 
relief  measure.  The  representatives  of  the  Interior  Depart 
ment,  with  almost  superhuman  intelligence,  as  a  relief  meas 
ure,  benevolently  offered  to  sell  the  Indians  some  government 
barbed  wire  at  fifty  cents  per  bale  more  than  the  market  price, 
and  take  the  pay  for  it  in  work. 

I1N  HONOR  OF  THE  RETURN  OF  VIRTUE 

Two  years  ago  I  began  operating  among  these  Pueblos  in 
divers  ways,  all  looking  to  the  rooting  out  of  the  liquor  traffic 
which  was  playing  havoc  among  them.  I  had  made  previous 
attempts  working  in  connection  with  Superintendent  Crandall, 
but  obtained  no  results.  The  Indians  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  any  of  my  deputies  who  worked  in  connection  with 
Crandall,  for  whom  they  had  a  deep-seated  hatred. 

I  then  sent  into  the  field,  Harold  F.  Coggeshall  and  employ 
ed  to  assist  him.  as  my  deputies.  Miss  True  and  Perdo  Baca. 
the  latter  an  influential,  earnest.  Pueblo  Indian,  who  had  been 
educated  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  Results  came  in  rapid  suc 
cession.  The  Indians  by  the  score  flocked  to  the  total  abstin 
ence  standard,  as  well  as  began  assisting  in  securing  evidence 
against  persons  guilty  of  selling  liquor  to  Indians.  In  this, 
the  Santa  Clara  Tnd;ans  took  the  lead.  Out  of  nearlv  three 
hundred  of  these  Indians,  only  three  or  four  are  left  who 
drink.  The  Santa  Clara  men  became  crusaders.  They  con 
verted  almost  the  whole  village  of  San  Tldefonso.  They  sent 
missionaries  to  Cochiti.  to  Picuris.  to  Jemez,  to  San  Juan,  to 


io.  THE   STORY   <n-    JUAN    CRUZ. 

Iseleta  and  other  Pueblos.  They  formed  a  total  abstinence 
society,  adopted  a  badge  consisting  of  a  silver  arrow,  and 
practically  the  whole  village  enlisted.  They  sent  a  delegation 
of  four  Indians  to  the  recent  W.  C.  T.  U.  Convention  at  Las 
Vegas,  where  they  made  addresses  in  Spanish  before  the 
Convention,  before  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  before  the  Normal 
University.  They  formed  a  Federation  which  now  comprise? 
practically  every  Indian  Pueblo  in  New  Mexico,  the  chief  pur 
poses  of  which  are  to  cut  out  the  liquor  traffic  and  to  endeavor 
to  protect  themselves  from  the  land  and  pasturage  robberies 
that  were  being  inflicted  upon  them.  The  Chief  of  the  Federa 
tion  is  Francisco  Naranjo,  the  most  influential  of  all  Pueblo 
Indians.  Last  spring,  the  Indians  saw  that  which  they  had 
done  was  "good."  So  they  set  apart  a  day  in  celebration. 
Arrayed  in  fantastic  attire,  they  'gave  their  historic  dance  in 
honor  of  the  "Return  of  Virtue,"  a  ceremonial  which  is  never 
given  except  in  honor  of  some  great  event  that  has  wrought 
great  benefits  to  the  life  of  the  people.  Hundreds  of  Indian- 
participated  in  this  great  event,  Pedro  Baca  being  the  "Master 
of  Ceremonies/' 

THE  TRAGEDY  OF  CHAJV11TA 

Among  the  early  recruits  to  this  band  was  Juan  Cruz,  a 
young  Indian  Sir  Galahad  from  Pueblo  San  Juan.  Cruz  had 
the  spirit  of  a  crusader.  He  was  devoted  to  his  church,  to 
his  young  wife  Dolorita,  and  to  their  baby  Jose.  Little  Jose  is 
said  to  be  the  first  Indian  child  ever  christened  in  the  Espano- 
la  Valley  without  wine.  A  year  ago,  Assistant  Chief  Cogge- 
shall  had  made  Juan  a  deputy  posseman  in  my  name  and  em 
ployed  him  on  various  occasions  to  assist,  sometimes  in  dis 
tant  Pueblos.  I  paid  Juan  officially  for  these  services. 

In  the  midst  of  these  activities.  Supt.  Crandall  advised  the 
rough,  drunken  Indians  that  my  deputies  had  no  ''authority" 
and  that  no  attention  should  be  paid  to  them.  Under  the  in 
spiration  of  that  advice,  four  rough  Indians  of  bad  character, 
attacked  Juan  Cruz,  while  he  was  in  the  act  of  taking  a  bottle 
of  whisky  which  the  leader,  Dolores  Garcia  had  just  pur 
chased.  The  Indians  beat  Juan  with  stones  and  clubs,  mashing 
in  his  mouth  and  loosening  two  of  his  teeth.  Juan  drew  his 
revolver  and  in  defense  of  his  life,  fired  into  the  darkness,  the 
bullet  hitting  Garcia  who  died  an  hour  later. 

Cruz  was  arrested  and  held  to  the  grand  jury.  «»n  charge  of 
murder  in  the  first  degree,  conviction  for  which,  under  New 
Mexico  law,  could  be  nothing  less  than  death.  Superintendent 
Crandall  sent  in  a  hostile  telegram  to  the  Indian  Office.  To 
a  telegram  of  inquiry  from  the  Indian  Office.  I  replied : 


STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  n 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,Feb.  7,  1911. 
INDIAN  OFFICE,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Your  wire  yesterday  re  Cruz  shooting.  Crandall  misinformed 
about  Cruz  claiming  to  be  policeman  appointed  by  Miss  True.  Last 
fall  he  aided  Coggeshall  as  posse.  At  present  time  he  was  acting 
under  instructions  Governor  of  Santa  Clara  Pueblo.  Santa  Clara  and 
other  Pueblos  have  banded  together  to  eliminate  liquor  on  their  own 
motion  and  their  attempt  to  do  this  led  to  shooting.  I  regarded  it  best 
to  withhold  defense  for  present.  Drew  out  prosecution  and  Cruz  was 
held  without  bail. 

JOHNSON. 

I  had  just  reached  Santa  Fe  and  the  information  that  I 
gathered  quickly  was  chiefly  from  Supt.  Crandall  and  F.  S. 
Wilson,  attorney  for  the  Pueblo  Indians.  Upon  later  and 
personal  investigation,  I  found  their  information  to  be  un 
reliable  and  worthless.  I  had  not  yet  ascertained  the  part  that 
my  regular  commissioned  deputies  played  in  events  leading 
up  to  the  tragedy.  Attorney  Wilson  advised  me  that  a  non 
commissioned  employee  in  suppressing  the  liquor  traffic  among 
Indians  was  not  a  "deputy"  de  jure.  But  whether  he 
was  a  de  jure  deputy  or  not,  it  was  clear  that  he  was  acting  in 
good  faith  and  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  stand  behind  the  boy  to  the 
last  ditch.  I  was,  therefore,  astounded  at  receiving  the  fol 
lowing  telegram  from  Assistant  'Commissioner  Abbot  order 
ing  me  to  abandon  the  boy  to  his  fate : 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb.  9,  1911. 
JOHNSON,   Special  Officer,  Care   Supt.   Perry, 

Albuquerque,  N.  M. 

Your  telegram  seventh,  Cruz  shooting.  Since  Cruz  not  authorized 
Government  employee  your  service,  take  no  steps  regarding  his  de 
fense.  Consult  Supt.  Crandall  and  give  him  all  information  in  your 
possession. 

ABBOTT,  Assistant  Commissioner. 
• 

There  were  no  living  witnesses  to  the  shooting  except  the 
three  living  assailants,  all  of  whom  swore  at  the  preliminary 
hearing  that  the  shooting  was  entirely  unprovoked. 

I  could  not  see  the  boy  go  to  the  gallows  undefended.  I 
appealed  to  Crandall  to  do  something.  He  complacently  re 
ported  to  me  that  "all  the  facts  had  come  out  at  the  hearing" 
and  that  nothing  could  be  done  except  to  work  on  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  Judge. 

I  appealed  to  Wilson,  but  he  refused  to  undertake  the  defense 
unless  he  received  an  extra  fee.  He  later  tried  to  manipulate 
the  affair  so  that  the  Juan  Cruz  Defense  Committee  would 
employ  his  law  partner.  And  when  the  proposition  was  turned 
down,  Wilson  wrote  me  kindly  that  Cruz  would  have  to  "take 
his  medicine." 


12  THK   STOKY   OF  JUAN    CRUZ. 

I  then  went  to  the  ladies  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temper 
ance  Union,  at  Sante  Fe,  and  laid  the  life  of  the  boy  at  their 
feet,  telling  them  frankly  the  situation.  They  quickly  formed 
the  Juan  Cruz  Defense  Committee  and  sent  out  circulars  ap 
pealing  for  funds  with  which  to  employ  counsel  for  the  Indian. 
In  the  meantime,  I  took  the  matter  up  personally  with  Com 
missioner  Valentine.  Then  came  in  angry  protests  at  the 
brutal  action  of  Assistant  Abbott.  Commissioner  Valentine 
acted  quickly,  overruling  the  order  of  Assistant  Ab1>ott,  in  the 
following  telegram : 

Washington,  D.  C..  March  23,  1911. 
JOHNSON,  Special  Officer,  Denver,  Colo. 

Office  telegram  February  9,  concerning  Cruz  shooting,  hereby  re 
voked.  Help  in  his  fullest  possible  protection  every  way  in  your  power. 

VALENTINE,  Commissioner. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  patient,  earnest,  devoted  work  of 
the  Juan  Cruz  Defense  Committee,  consisting  of :  Mrs.  H.  M. 
Byrd,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M. ;  Mrs.  Katherine  B.  Patterson,  Santa 
Fe,  N.  M.;  Mary  T.  Bryan,  Espanola,  N.  M.,  and  Clara  D. 
True,  Espanola,  N.  M. 

Mrs.  Patterson,  who  acted  as  the  Treasurer  of  the  Defense 
Committee,  is  also  Superintendent  of  the  Department  of  Sys 
tematic  Giving,  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U. 

From  the  first.  Assistant  Commissioner  Abbott  schemed  to 
discredit  the  work  of  this  committee,  sending  out  letters  and 
telegrams  intimating  that  the  women  were  collecting  funds 
under  false  pretenses.  He  even  brazenly  denied  sending  me 
the  telegram  of  February  9.  On  May  20  he  telegraphed  Laura 
Stone  Power,  of  Redlands,  Acting  President  of  the  California 
Indian  Association : 

Replying  to  your  telegram  of  the  i8th  inst.  No  instructions  were 
ever  issued  to  Chief  Officer  Johnson  forbidding  him  to  help  in  the  pro 
tection  of  Juan  Cruz,  the  Indian  murderer. 

In  addition  to  denying  that  he  had  sent  me  the  telegram  of 
February  9,  Abbott,  on  the  even  of  the  trial,  \va>  officially 
branding  the  boy  as  an  "Indian  murderer." 

The  Defense  Committee  employed  J.  H.  Crist  of  Sante  Fe. 
one  of  the  ablest  criminal  lawyers  in  New  Mexico  as  counsel 
for  the  Indian.  At  the  request  of  Commissioner  Valentine, 
the  Department  of  Justice  instructed  United  States  Attorney 
David  J.  Leahy,  of  Las  Vegas,  to  assist  in  the  defense 
Commissioner  Valentine  also  ordered  F.  S.  Wilson,  attorney 
for  the  Pueblo  Indians,  to  assist.  This  is  the  "assistance" 
Wilson  rendered: 


THE  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  13 

1.  For  two  days  he      endeavored  to  induce  me  to  advise 
Cruz  to  plead  guilty  to  murder  in  the  second  degree  and  go 
to  the  penitentiary.     Apparently  his  object  w.as  to  justify  the 
distorted   reports   of   the   case   that   he   had   been   sending  to 
Washington. 

2.  He   spent  much   of. his  time  .around  the   street   corners 
abusing  the  trial  judge,  applying  violent  epithets  to  him. 

3.  On  the  crucial  day  of  the  trial,  when  Juan  was  freed, 
Wilson  was  off  fishing  ,and  knew  nothing  of  what  was  go 
ing  on. 

4.  After  the  trial,  Wilson  marshaled  the  witnesses  for  the 
prosecution  at  Santa  Fe  and  tried  to  get  Cruz  re-indicted  in 
the  Federal  Court  on  charge  of  murder  for  the  same  offense. 
His  diabolical  scheme  was  blocked  by  United  States  Attorney 
Leahy,  who  refused  to  allow  Wilson  to  take  the  witnesses  be 
fore  the  grand  jury. 

In  preparing  the  case  for  trial,  I  felt  the  opposition  of 
Superintendent  Crandall.  I  desired  to  use  as  a  character  wit 
ness,  one  of  his  teachers,  a  most  estimable  lady,  who  was 
especially  well  qualified'  as  such  witness  and  eager  to  serve. 
She  Pegged  of  me  to  excuse  her  and  I  did  excuse  her,  on  the 
ground  that  she  was  fearful  of  Crandall's  vengeance  upon 
her  if  she  aided  in  the  defense  of  Cruz. 

After  a  week's  fight  in  the  court,  in  which  unknown  inter 
ests  employed  special  counsel  to  assist  in  the  prosecution,  Judge 
John  R.  McFie  ruled  that  at  the  time  of  the  shooting  Cruz 
was  employed  as  a  Federal  officer  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty  and,  as  such,  was  not  answerable  to  the  Territorial  Court 
for  an  offense  committed  while  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

We  had  a  complete  defense  for  the  boy  aside  from  this, 
which  defense,  it  was  not  necessary  to  present  to  the  jury. 
Much  of  the  details  of  this  defense  Mr.  Crist  and  myself  kept 
from  the  knowledge  of  Attorney  Wilson,  fearing  treachery. 

Systematic  attempts  have  been  made  and  are  being  made 
by  agents  of  the  Interior  Department  to  blacken  and  discredit 
every  one  who  has  made  an  attempt  to  protect  these  Pueblo 
Indians.  Agents  of  the  Department  caused  me  to  be  thrown 
into  jail  on  my  last  trip  to  Slanta  Fe  on  a  fake  charge  of  crim 
inal  libel.  I  was  seized  at  breakfast  and  hurried  before  a 
Mexican  Justice  of  the  Peace,  a  friend  of  Crandall's,  who 
promptly  held  me  to  the  grand  jury  under  bonds  of  $3,000. 
I  went  to  jail  and  at  once  sued  out  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
in  the  District  Court  where  I  was  promptly  released,  the 
Court  holding  that  there  was  no  evidence  to  warrant  the  pro 
ceedings.  Then  I  was  sued  for  one  Ir.mrlred  thousand  dollars 


*4  TIIK   STORY   OF  JUAN    CRUZ. 

damages  on  account  of  some  of  these  exposures,  the  complain 
ant  being  Clinton  J.  Crandall  who  divides  time  between  selling 
whisky  at  Santa  Fe  and  teaching  Indian  children  at  the  Gov 
ernment  school.  For  two  months  Mr.  Abbott  has  been  trying 
to  find  some  way  to  hold  up  my  accounts  for  expenses  incurred 
in  the  defense. of  Cruz  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  law  office  of 
the  Indian  Office  has  given  their  opinion  that  the  expenditures 
incurred  in  this  matter  were  legal.  There  seems  to  be  no  limit 
to  the  wrath  of  the  Department  at  my  successful  defense  in 
this  case. 

In  addition  to  the  various  assaults  on  me,  agents  of  the  De 
partment  of  the  Interior  have  been  making  a  great  variety  of 
attacks  upon  the  ladies  of  the  Juan  Cruz  Defense  Committee. 
These  attacks  have  ranged  all  the  wiay  from  circulating  lying 
whisperings  against  their  integrity  to  bringing  fake  litigation 
against  Miss  True,  and  even  to  Superintendent  Crandall's  re 
peatedly  cutting  the  barb-ware  fences  of  Mrs.  Byrd's  ranch. 
For  this  he  narrowly  escaped  indictment  at  the  hands  of  the 
grand  jury;  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  was  Crandall's 
partner  in  the  liquor  selling  drug  store. 

Prior  to  the  trial,  both  Wilson  and  Crandall  used  every 
effort  to  involve  Miss  True  in  a  crime  by  trying  to  prove  that 
she  furnished  the  revolver  with  which  the  shooting  was  done. 
Wilson  even  reported  to  Washington  on  February  14,  "Mr. 
Crandall  and  I  have  not  given  up  hope  in  connecting  her 
with  the  matter  in  such  a  way  as  to  punish  her  as  she  deserves." 
This  is  apparently  one  reason  why  these  men  wanted  Cruz 
convicted,  as  a  preliminary  to  some  sort  of  a  prosecution 
against  one  of  the  best  friends  of  the  Indians.  A  little  later, 
while  I  was  in  Washington,  one  of  the  most  important  of 
ficials  of  the  Indian  Office  asked  me  if  I  could  "not  conjure  up 
some  sort  of  a  criminal  prosecution  against  Miss  True  so  she 
will  keep  her  mouth  shut." 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  operations  of  this  Departmental 
crew  of  wriggling,  squirming,  sword-swallowers,  there  stands 
silhouetted  against  the  horizon  of  the  situation  the  character 
of  this  Indian  boy.  When  he  was  in  the  penetentiary  waiting 
trial,  I  visited  him  with  Mr.  Crist,  to  discuss  the  case.  Otae 
statement  had  been  misinterpreted  to  us,  making  it  appear  that 
Itian  was  contradicting  some  statement  of  the  state's  witnesses 
in  a  trivial  matter.  Mr.  Crist  made  a  casual  remark  that  the 
unnecessary  contradiction  made  it  more  difficult  for  us.  Mr. 
Crist's  remark,  not  intended  for  Juan,  was  interpreted  to  him. 
Quick  as  a  flash  came  back  the  retort,  "I  will  tell  the  truth  if 
they  hang  me  for  it."  Later,  when  the  trial  was  over,  and  he 
was  free,  the  Indian  said.  "I  knew  it  would  come  out  this  way. 


THE   STORY  OF   JUAN    CKUZ.  15 

I  was  doing  God's  work  and  the  whole  matter  was  in  His 
hands." 

The  next  day,  Juan,  as  he  started  home  with  Dolorita  and 
Baby  Jose,  threw  his  arms  around  me  in  a  farewell  greeting. 
I  felt  then,  as  I  feel  now,  that  all  of  my  work  in  his  behalf  was 
not  in  vain,  that  any  vengeance  which  the  Interior  Depart 
ment  and  the  liquor  fraternity  might  inflict  upon  me  could  not 
make  me  suffer  as  much  as  th^e. Santa  Clara  Indians  have  suf 
fered  because  of  this  decade  of  maladministration  by  the  worst 
plunderbund  that  has  disgraced  good  government  since  the 
days  of  William  M.  Tweed. 

The  night  the  trial  closed,  and  Juan  was  set  free,  the  In 
dians  came  to  Miss  True.  "I  knew  that  Scnor  Johnson  would 
bring  Juan  back  to  us.  We  have  all  been  praying  every 
night,"  said  Valentine  Naranjo,  devoutly  baring  his  head. 

At  the  recent  Convention  of  the  Society  of  American  In 
dians,  formed  at  Columbus,  O.,  Tom  L.  Sloan,  a  Winnebago 
Indian,  voiced  Indian  sentiment  when  he  said :  "What  we 
want  is  for  the  Department  to  send  us  Superintendents  who 
are  at  least  honest,  and  who  are  as  capable  of  managing  the 
affairs  of  the  Indians  as  the  Indians  are  themselves." 

The  Reader  of  the  Stars  of  Ptiye  is  doing  the  best  he  can  to 
find  where  the  end  of  it  is. 


JOHNSON  ANSWERS  ADAMS'  POSTHUMOUS 
"CHARGES" 


Laurel,  Md.  December,  9,  1911 
Hori.  Samuel  Adams, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
My  dear  Mr.  Secretary : 

I  have  to  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  29th.  ult. 

On  October  29th,  Secretary  Fisher  gave  out  to  the  news 
papers  at  Washington  a  statement  that  I  preferred  to  resign  my 
position  as  Chief  Special  Officer  of  the  United  States  Indian 
Service  ''rather  than  meet  certain  definite  charges  against  him." 
These  clippings  were  called  to  my  attention  in  the  far  West. 
Inasmuch  as  no  charges  whatever  had  been  preferred  against 
me  which  I  refused  to  meet,  I  wrote  the  Secretary  on  Novem 
ber  nth,  requesting  a  copy  of  the  alleged  charges  to  which  he 
referred,  that  I  might  make  a  defense  thereto. 

Your  reply  dated  November  29th  is  a  general  roast  of  thir 
teen  pages  in  which  is  mixed  argument,  innuendo,  imputation, 
vituperation  and  some  definite  statements.  I  will  assort  the 
definite  statements  from  the  mess  as  best  I  can  and  make  reply 
thereto. 

First,  permit  me  to  inquire :  If  definite  charges  had  been 
presented  to  me  and  that  I  resigned  rather  than  to  meet  them, 
what  business  had  you  as  an  administrative  officer  to  accept 
my  resignation  which  I  have  in  my  possession  signed  by  your 
own  hand.  Outside  of  the  Interior  Department,  the  acceptance 
of  a  resignation  is  regarded  as  a  clean  bill  of  health.  I  waiv 
ed  my  rights  in  this  matter  and  invited  you  to  file  any  charges 
that  you  might  conjure  up  after  you  had  accepted  my  resigna 
tion,  and  to  make  them  public  if  you  desired. 

Your  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  on  September  17, 
after  I  had  handed  in  my  resignation,  you  yourself  gave  out 
to  the  newspaper  correspondents  a  statement  that  "no  fault 
had  been  found  with  Mr.  Johnson's  integrity  or  his  character." 
You  also  complimented  my  service. 

Your  attention  is  also  invited  to  the  fact  that  only  a  few  days 
prior  to  the  giving  out  of  Mr.  Fisher's  interview,  he  himself 
•definitely  stated  to  Clara  D.  True,  while  she  was  his  guest  on 


MRS.  KATHERINE  B.  PATTERSON 

Treasurer  of  the  Juan  Cruz  Defense  Committee  and  Superintendent 

of  the  Department  of  Systematic  Giving  of  the 

National  W.  C.  T.  U. 


his  private  car  through  New  Mexico,  that  there  were  no 
charges  against  me  at  all.  I  herewith  submit  a  letter  from 
Miss  True. 

Espanola,  New  Mexico,  October  25,  1911. 
MR.  WIUJAM  E.  JOHNSON, 

Denver,  Colorado. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  JOHNSON  : 

The  recent  statement  of  Hon.  Walter  Fisher  in  the  press  that  you 
resigned  rather  than  face  "certain  definite  charges",  seems  so  peculiar 
in  the  light  of  my  late  conversation  with  Mr.  Fisher,  that  I  have 
written  him  for  fuller  information. 

In  his  private  car  en  route  from  the  Pacific  coast  to  Washington 
not  long  ago,  I  called  upon  him  and  by  invitation  rode  with  him  a  dis 
tance  between  Albuquerque  and  Lamy  Junction.  Mr.  Fisher  seemed 
troubled  by  your  resignation  which  he  said  he  had  not  expected,  or 
desired,  and  that  there  zvere  no  charges  against  you.  The  situation  is 
peculiar.  Someone  has  blundered.  Very  sincerely, 

C.  TRUE. 


18  Tin.    STORY   OF   JLA.N    CKLZ. 

After  1  announced  my  intention  to  resign,  and  after  you 
knew  it,  an  emissary  came  to  me  from  your  office  stating  that 
you  were  willing  to  accept  my  resignation  provided  I  would 
go  away  and  ''keep  my  mouth  shut."  1  replied,  in  substance: 

"I  will  agree  to  no  such  thing.  I  am  going  out  a  free  man. 
I  prefer  to  be  dismissed,  and  want  to  be  dismissed.  If  you 
don't  dismiss  me  today,  I  shall  resign  today."  You  failed  to 
dismiss  me  and  I  resigned  and  you  accepted  my  resignation. 

Your  account  of  the  "conference"'  preceding  my  resignation 
is  a  very  good  burlesque  of  the  facts.  It  is  true  that  I  was 
called  to  Washington  by  you.  About  an  hour  before  the  con 
ference,  a  politician  and  office-holder  who  is  intimately  con 
nected  with  the  Interior  Department  officials  asked  me  by  tele 
phone  to  meet  him  at  the  Metropolitan  Hotel.  He  said  to  me : 

''I  have  inside  information  from  the  Interior  De 
partment  as  to  what  is  wanted  of  you.  You  ar,e  get 
ting  too  many  convictions  and  it  is  causing  trouble. 
They  are  just  going  to  raise  hell  with  you  today  and 
try  and  hammer  you  into  a  frame  of  mind  whereby 
you  will  be  willing  to  go  to  sleep  on  your  job." 

I  was  ushered  in  your  presence  without  any  specific  infor 
mation  as  to  what  was  wanted.  You  were  seated  at  a  large 
flat-top  desk  around  which  were  three  'other  officials  and  on 
which  was  a  large  pile  of  papers  and  documents.  You  would 
not  allow  me  to  sit  at  the  desk  where  I  could  examine  or  refer 
to  the  papers.  You  twice  savagely  ordered  me  to  sit  in  a  chair 
some  distance  from  the  desk.  For  two  and  a  half  hours  you 
inquisitors  took  turns  in  a  fusilade  of  rapid-fire  questions  to 
me.  The  questions  involved  a  great  multiplicity  of  small  items 
and  expenditures,  legal  decisions,  technical  authorities  and  re 
cords,  and  my  records  were  a  thousand  miles  away.  I  had 
nearly  a  hundred  men  in  the  field,  all  spending  money,  and  I 
had  approximately  nine  hundred  different  criminal  cases  pend 
ing  on  the  dockets.  Many  of  your  questions  were  insulting, 
insinuating  and  accompanied  with  sneers.  There  was  plenty 
of  innuendo  in  your  questioning,  but  no  "'charges''  of  any  sort 
were  presented  to  me,  and  my  'attention  was  called  to  no 
"'charges"  of  any  kind  or  character,  an;l  ymi  \vell  know  it. 
The  first  charges  that  have  been  called  to  my  attention  are  con 
tained  in  your  letter  of  November  29th.  The  only  paper  of 
any  kind  that  I  was  allowed  to  examine  at  the  conference  \vu- 
an  affidavit  of  George  Anton,  in  which  he  swore  to  receiving 
three  dollars  from  me  and  that  he  did  not  know  what  it  was 
for.  There  was  no  charge  in  connection  with  the  matter.  You 
asked  me  to  sav  what  T  had  to  sav  re^anlin^'  the  affidavit  "at 


THE:  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  19 

my  convenience.''  I  complied  about  a  week  later.  I  deal  with 
this  matter  later  in  this  letter.  Your  whole  course  during  this 
"third  degree"  performance  fully  confirmed  the  advance  infor 
mation  that  I  received  in  the  Metropolitan  Hotel  as  to  your 
real  purposes. 

You  make  a  specious  argument  of  four  pages  in  an  effort  to 
prove  that  I  was  "insubordinate"  in  matters  growing  out  of 
certain  New  Mexico  complications.  The  real  story  of  this 
matter  is  this :  OKving  to  long  continues  abuses  of  your  de 
partment  in  New  Mexico,  the  six  thousand  Pueblo  Indians  had 
been  compelled  to  form  a  Federation  in  order  to  protect  them 
selves  against  the  maladministration  of  your  office,  a  scandal 
of  years  standing.  The  Indians  complained  because  you  em 
ployed  a  liquor  dealer  as  their  Superintendent,  and  accused 
him  of  selling  liquor  illegally.  They  had  numerous  other 
grievances  which  were  habitually  ignored  by  your  office.  Be 
cause  they  complained,  your  agents  went  out  on  a  campaign 
of  "punishment."  Mr.  Abbott  withheld  approval  of  all  my 
deputy  appointments  in  New  Mexico,  nearly  all  of  whom  were 
Indians.  The  District  Court  came  on  at  Albuquerque  and  the 
Federal  Court  at  Santa  Fe.  I  wished  to  prosecute  one  Jesus 
Castellano  for  selling  liquor  to  two  of  my  Indian  deputies. 
The  District  Attorney  would  not  pay  their  witness  fees  be 
cause  they  lived  outside  of  the  county  at  a  distance.  I  had  no 
authority  to  pay  them  anything  except  as  deputies,  and  you 
held  up  their  appointments,  thus  blocking  the  prosecution  of 
Castellano. 

I  desired  to  prosecute  in  the  Federal  Court,  Claro  Marino, 
who  was  peddling  whisky  to  Indians  under  the  guise  of  ped 
dling  vegetables.  I  had  already  instituted  prosecutions  against 
her  in  the  Territorial  Courts.  It  was  necessary  to  employ  an 
Indian  deputy  to  run  down  some  witnesses.  I  could  not  do 
this  because  you  would  not  allow  me  to  employ  such  deputy. 
In  this  way  you  blocked  the  prosecution  of  both  of  these  cases. 

I  also  desired  to  employ  an  Indian  deputy  to  assist  the  Dis 
trict  Attorney  and  constable  as  interpreter  and  scout  in  pre 
senting  to  the  Grand  Jury  half  a  dozen  cases  which  had  been 
bound  over  in  the  Justice  Court  at  my  instigation.  You  would 
not  allow  such  employment,  and  five  of  the  six  cases  were 
saved  only  because  the  Indians  loyally  came  to  the  rescue  and 
•did  the  work  unofficially  and  without  compensation. 

As  these  events  were  developing,  I  took  this  situation  up 
with  you  by  wire,  and  you  still  refused  to  allow  me  to  employ 
the  Indians,  but  ordered  me  to  send  a  Special  Officer.  The 
nearest  officer  was  exactly  1007  miles  away,  and  all  the  officers 
were  engaged  on  other  urgent  work.  It  would  require  an  ex 
penditure  of  several  hundreds  of  dollars  to  comply  with  your 


2O  THE  STORY  OF  JUAN    CKUZ. 

order,  and  the  officer  could  not  do  the  work  needed  in  any 
event,  as  they  could  not  interpret.  They  could  not  employ  in 
terpreters  because  you  have  never  given  me  authority  to  em 
ploy  interpreters.  I  have  always  used  deputies  as  interpreters, 
and  you  had  blocked  my  employment  of  deputies  in  New  Mex 
ico,  thus  blocking  my  use  of  interpreters  there. 

1  tried  to  explain  this  to  you  again,  asking  if  you  desired 
me  to  abandon  the  cases.  I  stated  that  if  you  insisted  I  could 
send  a  Special  Officer.  You  wired  me  to  place  a  Special  Officer 
ai:  your  disposal  for  New  Mexico  operations,  and  1  promptly 
did  so ;  but  even  then  you  did  not  send  the  officer  whom  I  had 
placed  at  your  disposal  for  this  purpose.  You  thereby  blocked 
the  prosecution  of  both  the  Castellano  and  Marino  cases  and 
jeopardized  the  prosecution  in  all  the  other  cases. 

These  tactics  of  yours  are  by  no  means  new  to  me.  By  simi 
lar  intrigues  your  department  has  blocked  my  prosecutions  in 
something  like  250  cases  of  various  sorts  during  the  past  two 
years. 

Aside  from  the  interfering  with  the  successful  prosecution 
of  these  cases,  your  purpose  manifestly  was  to  trick  me  into  a 
color  of  "insubordination."  If  I  had  not  suspended  the  opera 
tions  of  the  New  Mexico  deputies,  whose  appointments  you  had 
refused  to  approve,  you  would  have  had  me  on  the  carpet  for 
"insubordination" ;  now  you  accuse  me  of  "insubordination" 
because  I  DID  suspend  their  operations.  Apparently  you  were 
determined  to  get  me  going  or  coming. 

You  charge : — 

"Including  in  the  moneys  paid  out  by  you  at  the 
time  of  the  defence  of  Juan  Cruz,  was  $61  paid  to 
Pedro  Baca  as  a  posseman,  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that, 
by  Department  telegram  of  February  18,  1911,  you 
were  directed  to  terminate  the  employment  of  Pedro 
Baca  who  had  been  formerly  employed  by  you  as  a 
special  deputy  officer." 

It  is  true  that  Baca's  activities  in  suppressing  the  liquor 
traffic  among  Indians,  and  his  criticism  of  Indian  Superinten 
dent  Crandall  for  illegal  sales  of  whisky 'was  followed  by  de 
partmental  orders  to  dismiss  him,  without  cause.  On  February 
9th,  Assistant  Commissioner  Abbott  telegraphed  me  to  take  no 
steps  to  the  defense  of  Juan  Cruz,  an  Indian,  who  had  been 
employed  by  me  to  assist  in  the  suppression  of  the  liquor 
traffic  among  Indians.  Through  the  intriguing  of  Indian 
Superintendent  Crandall,  who  is  himself  a  liquor  dealer,  four 
drunken  Indians  had  murderously  attacked  Cruz  when  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty.  In  self-defence  Cruz  was  alleged  to  have 


THE:  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  21 

shot  the  principal  assailant.  Cruz  was  held  for  murder  in  the 
first  degree  and  the  prosecution  was  being  strenuously  sup 
ported  by  special  counsel  having  been  employed  by  interested 
parties  to  assist  the  District  Attorney. 

The  ladies  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  then  undertook  to  raise  funds 
to  defend  the  Indian's  life,  the  fight  for  which  Mr.  Abbott  or 
dered  me  to  abandon.  The  Abbott  order  caused  so  much 
criticism  against  your  Department  that  on  March  23rd  Com 
missioner  Valentine  overruled  the  same  order  in  the  following 
telegram,  addressed  to  me: 

"Office  telegram  February  ninth,  concerning  Cruz 
shooting  hereby  revoked.  Help  in  his  fullest  possible 
protection  every  way  in  your  power." 

Under  the  authority  of  this  telegram  and  under  my  general 
authority  to  employ  deputies  and  posseman  temporarily,  I  em 
ployed  Baca  to  assist.  He  was  an  important  witness ;  a  well 
educted  Indian,  and  could  do  the  necessary  work  better  than 
anyone  else.  It  was  a  matter  of  life  or  death.  Your  real  ob 
jection  to  the  matter  seems  to  be  your  anger  that  I  was  suc 
cessful  in  saving  the  Indian's  life  and  securing  his  freedom. 
After  he  was  released,  your  own  representative,  F.  S.  Wilson, 
attorney  for  the  P'ueblo  Indians,  and  officer  of  your  own  De 
partment,  marshalled  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution  before 
the  Federal  Court  and  tried  to  get  Cruz  reindicted  by  the  Fed 
eral  Grand  Jury  on  the  same  charge  of  murder.  After  your 
own  official  agents  had  tried  to  get  Cruz  reindicted,  and  failed, 
you  had  the  nerve  to  tell  me  that  you  " would  not  harm  Cruz 
if  I  could." 

You  charge : — 

"From  your  accounts  it  appears  that  you  employed 
Sylviano  Roybal  as  a  deputy  special  officer  from  June 
1 6  to  June  21,  at  $5  a  day.  Mr.  Roybal  was  the 
sheriff  who  had  the  prisoner  Cruz  in  his  custody.  It 
it  difficult  for  me  to  see  in  this  payment  to  him  of  $30 
as  a  special  deputy  any  motive  on  your  part  but  an  im 
proper  one." 

Sheriff  Roybal  receives  no  salary,  only  fees.  Every  lawyer 
in  the  United  States,  outside  of  the  Interior  Department  knows 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  sheriff  to  subpoena  witnesses  for  the 
defense  in  criminal  cases  as  well  as  for  the  prosecution.  We 
asked  Mr.  Roybal  to  secure  the  attendance  of  various  wit 
nesses  in  the  Cruz  case  in  the  usual  way.  The  County  Com 
missioners  refused  to  pay  him  for  the  work;  I  therefore  paid 
him  officially  as  my  deputy  for  his  time.  Some  time  ago,  the 


22  Tin-;   STORY  OF  JUAN    CRUZ. 

Auditor  for  the  Interior  Department  called  my  attention  to  a 
Federal  statute  forbidding  the  acceptance  of  services  to  the 
Government  without  compensation.  Your  anger  at  my  success 
in  the  Cruz  case  seems  to  so  blind  you  that  you  regard  it  as 
improper  for  me  to  obey  the  law. 

Talking  about  "misappropriation  of  funds,"  how  about  that 
thousand  dollars  of  Indian  money  which  Superintendent  Cran- 
dall  got,  ostensibly  to  "improve  the  roads  in  and  about  the 
Indian  Pueblos?"  He  spent  the  money  to  aid  the  construction 
of  an  automobile  speedway  along  La  Bajada  hill,  and  eight 
miles  from  the  nearest  Indian.  The  "speedway"  is  through 
the  property  of  the  chief  political  boss  of  New  Mexico.  See 
Singleton's  report  for  full  particulars  of  this  particular  graft. 
The  report  has  been  in  you  possession  for  seven  months.  You 
yourself  personally  condoned  this  job. 

You  charge: — 

"You  paid  Miss  True  $72  for  24  days'  alleged  ser 
vices  as  posseman,  when,  as  shown  by  your  letter  of 
July  20,  you  had  been  instructed  by  the  Department 
to  discontinue  the  services  of  Miss  True  and  Pedro 

Baca You    admitted    that    Miss    True 

would  have  worked  just  as  hard  for  the  defence  of 
Juan  Cruz  without  employment  and  without  payment 
at  all.  It  therefore  follows  that  your  payment  of  Gov 
ernment  funds  for  this  purpose  was  a  misuse  of  much 
funds." 

The  Department,  it  is  true,  compelled  me  to  terminate  the 
services  of  Miss  True  and  Pedro  Baca  on  account  of  their 
activities  for  the  Indians,  and  for  their  criticisms  of  illegal 
liquor  selling  on  the  part  of  Indian  Superintendent  Crandall. 
For  the  details  of  this  booze  peddling  superintendent,  you  only 
have  to  refer  to  the  voluminous  report  of  Inspector  Shelby  M. 
Singleton,  which  report  has  been  in  your  possession  for  seven 
months,  and  which  apparently  is  also  "difficult  for  you  to  see." 
During  the  six  weeks  before  the  infamous  Abbott  telegram  of 
February  ninth  was  overruled  by  Commissioner  Valentine,  this 
devoted  woman  was  spending  almost  her  whole  time  and  hun 
dreds  of  dollars  of  her  own  funds  in  trying  to  protect  the  In 
dian  boy.  After  I  was  officially  directed  by  Commissioner 
Valentine  to  "help  in  his  fullest  possible  protection  every  way 
in  your  power,"  I  employed  Miss  True  for  a  few  days,  paying 
her  as  a  posseman.  She  was  a  vitally  important  witness  for 
the  defense,  and  much  of  this  $72  was  for  her  time  in  attend 
ance  upon  this  court  as  a  witness.  The  Court,  while  discharg 
ing  Cruz  from  custody,  refused  to  allow  the  fees  of  any  wit- 


THE:  STORY   OF   JUAN   CRUZ.  23 

nesses  for  the  defense,  on  the  theory  that  that  was  a  proper 
charge,  under  the  circumstances,  upon  the  Fed'eral  Govern 
ment.  Having  this  attitude  of  the  Court  in  mind, -and  having 
in  mind  the  Federal  statute  against  accepting  gratuitous  ser 
vices  in  behalf  of  the  Government,  T  paid  Miss  True  for  her 
time. 


FRANCISCO  NARANJO 

Chief  of  the   Federation  of  Indian   Pueblos,    and    Presidente 
of  the  Pueblo  Indian  Temperance  Society. 

I  have  been  making  payments  of  this  sort  for  five  years  with 
the  full  knowledge  of  your  own  Department.  These  payments 
have  been  uniformly  approved  during  all  this  time.  Some 
months  ago,  the  Comptroller  specifically  and  in  writing  ap 
proved  this  class  of  payments.  But  when  the  attempt  is  foiled 
to  hang  an  Indian  boy  who  had1  been  indiscreet  enough  to 
criticise  an  Indian  Superintendent  who  is  one  of  your  political 


24  THE  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ. 

associates,  for  selling  whisky  illegally,  then  and  not  till  then 
do  you  rise  up  in  your  might  and  shout  about  such  payments 
for  services  being  a  "misuse  of  governmental  funds." 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  'the  inebriate  who  wandered  all  over 
Washington  buttonholing  people  and  saying,  "I  smell  Lim- 
burger  cheese  in  your  pockets?"  When  the  toper  gol  home, 
his  wife  went  through  his  pockets,  as  wives  do,  and  found  a 
whole  pound  of  Limburger  cheese  in  her  husband's  pocket 

You  charge : — 

"It  appears  that  you  also  paid  J.  H.  Crist  as  a  spe 
cial  deputy  officer  from  June  13  to  17,  at  $5  per  day, 
when  to  your  knowledge  Crist  was  employed  to  defend 
Cruz  by  the  socalled  Juan  Cruz  Defence  Committee. 
.  .  .  Revised  Statutes,  Section  189,  forbids  the 
employment  of  attorneys  or  counsel  at  the  expense  of 
the  United  States." 

I  did  not  employ  Crist  as  an  "attorney  or  counsel/'  and  you 
know  it,  and  as  your  charge  indicates.  I  paid  him  for  his  time 
as  a  "deputy,"  to  gather  evidence  in  the  Cruz  case  and  some 
other  matters  connected  with  the  suppression  of  the  liquor 
traffic  among  Indians.  There  are  scores  of  attorneys  employed 
in  the  Indian  Office  and  field  service,  in  other  capacities  than 
as  "attorneys."  I  have  employed  dozens  of  them  as  deputies, 
but  never  as  "attorneys."  I  have  done  this  with  the  full  knowl 
edge  and  consent  of  your  own  Department.  Your  own  De 
partment  is  at  this  very  hour  employing  many  lawyers  to  do 
precisely  the  same  class  of  work  that  I  employed  Crist  to  do, 
and  you  very  well  know  it. 

You  charge: — 

"You  also  paid  George  Anton  as  posseman  on  June 
2  ist,  $3.  An  affidavit  to  the  effect  that  he  did  not 
know  why  the  money  was  paid  him  was  turned  over 
to  you  on  the  day  of  the  hearing,  with  the  request  that 
you  prepare  an  answer  to  the  affidavit.  Instead  of 
preparing  such  answer,  you  handed  in  your  resig 
nation." 

The  affidavit  was  not  turned  over  to  me  to  "answer."  It 
was  turned  over  to  me  to  make  an  "explanation  in  writing"  and 
at  my  "convenience."  •  I  made  the  explanation  on  my  arrival 
at  Denver  about  a  week  later.  That  explanation  has  been  in 
your  own  office  since  last  September.  You  will  find  it  pigeon 
holed,  perhaps  with  the  Singleton  report,  in  some  rathole  of 
the  Interior  Department,  unless  too  "difficult  for  you  to  see." 
I  will  repeat  the  substance  of  the  "explanation."  On  the 


THE;  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  25 

morning  of  June  21,  Anton,  an  ex-saloon  keeper,  and  an  em 
ployee  of  one  of  Superintendent  Crandall's  personal  friends, 
came  to  me  stating  that  he  .had  evidence  and  could  get  some 
more  within  a  few  days  work  that  one  "Shorty"  Frank  had 
been  selling  liquor  to  Indians.  I  told  him  to  work  the  matter 
up,  and  that  I  would  pay  him  for  his  time.  An  hour  later, 
Miss  True  told  me  that  Anton  had  just  come  to  her  stating 
that  he  had  an  appointment  with  the  Cruz  jury  for  nine  o'clock 
that  night,  and  that  he  .wanted  her  to  go  with  him  to  "fix"  the 
jury.  (Since  writing  my  "explanation"  I  found  a  witness  of 
the  highest  character  who  had  hid  behind  a  door  and  over 
heard  the  whole  conversation,  thus  corroborating  Miss  True 
completely.)  I  immediately  reported  the  matter  to  United 
States  Attorney  Leahy.  Not  knowing  of  the  corroborative 
testimony,  we  decided  to  take  no  action  as  it  would  simply  be 
Anton's  word  against  Miss  True's.  I  did,  however,  immedi 
ately  dismiss  Anton,  put  paid  him  three  dollars  for  the  day's 
work  he  actually  did.  The  three  dollars  were  paid  by  an  of 
ficial  Treasury  check  in  the  usual  way,  and  the  letter  of  trans- 
mittal  stated  that  the  check  was  for  "payment  of  your  services 
on  June  2ist."  Your  office  has  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  trans- 
mittal  and1  knows  all  about  the  transaction.  You,  apparently, 
seem  to  be  incensed  that  I  did  not  fall  into  the  trap  set  by  par 
ties  interested  in  the  prosecution  of  Cruz. 

You  charge: — 

"The  most  serious  thing  in  connection  with  the 
matter  seemed  to  me  to  be  'the  paying  of  Juan"  Cruz 
$6  as  posseman,  for  the  days  of  February  3  and  4, 
ibeing  the  day  before  and  the  day  of  the  shooting  of 
Garcia  by  Cruz.  This  payment*  was  not  made  until 
May  26." 

I  paid  this  claim  as  soon  as  I  was  convinced'  that  it  was  a 
just  claim  and  not  before.  Sometimes  it  takes  the  Department 
years  to  find  out  whether  a  claim  is  just  or  not. 

In  support  of  the  above  charge,  you  quote  from  various 
letters  of  mine  written  before  I  had  conferred  with  Assistant 
Chief  Coggeshall,  who  originally  appointed  Cruz  in  my  name, 
and  who  had  immediate  charge  of  the  New  Mexico  work; 
letters  written  before  I  had  personally  made  an  investigation 
and  at  a  time  when  I  was  depending  chiefly  on  Superintendent 
Crandall  and  Attorney  Wilson  for  information  as  to  the  case. 
Investigation  showed  these  sources  of  information  to  be  value 
less. 

You  carefully  refrain  from  quoting  from  my  report  made 
after  a  thorough  personal  investigation,  which,  from  your  near- 


26 


THE  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ. 


sightedness,  it  is  again  ''difficult  to  see.''  In  these  subsequent 
reports  the  facts  were  fully  set  forth,  and  my  former  letters 
thereby  modified  and  corrected.  You  are  still  hunting  for  that 
Limburger  cheese.  The  Justice  of  the  Peace  pettifogging  me 
thods  to  which  you  resort  in  the  above  charge  do  not  seem 
to  call  for  an  extended  reply. 


SANTIAGO   NARANJO 

Governor  of  Santa  Clara.     He  says :     "  I  wan-ta 
mak-a  da  straight  way  for  my  people." 

You  say  that  Assistant  Commissioner  Abbott  denies  com 
pelling  me  to  write  a  laudatory  letter  of  June  29,  to  Mrs. 
Patterson,  in  which  Abbott  is  extolled  as  a  man  of  "high 
character."  I  expected  Mr.  Abbott  to  deny  it — he  is  that  kind 
of  a  man.  But  a  portion  of  the  original  draft  of  that  letter  is 
in  Abbott's  own  handwriting.  You  say  "your  making  the 
-tatement  above  set  out  shows  that  you  were  totally  unfit  to 


THE  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  27 

holdi  any  position  involving  the  exercise  of  discretion."  That 
is  probably  true  from  the  standpoint  of  men  like  you,  whose 
purposes  seem  to  be  best  served  by  'concealing  and  hiding 
things  from  the  public,  just  as  you  are  now  concealing  the  re 
port  of  Inspector  Shelby  M.  Singleton,  detailing  the  appalling 
rottenness  of  your  own  administration  in  New  Mexico.  You. 
further  observe  regarding  the  statement,  "whether  true  or  not, 
it  shows  you  to  be  guilty  of  moral  cowardice  in  an  extreme 
measure."  Perhaps.  But  Mr.  Adams,  if  your  superior,  Sec 
retary  Fisher,  should  come  to  you  demanding  that  you  prepare 
a  letter  extolling  his  high  character,  wouldn't  you  do  it  ?  I  did 
not  give  Mr.  Abbott  away  in  the  matter  until  I  got  out  of  the 
service,  and  I  did  not  do  it  then  until  it  became  necessary  in 
order  to  protect  the  Pueblo  Indians  from  Abbott's  vindictive 
schemes. 

In  this  connection,  how  about  you  accepting  my  resignation 
with  laudatory  observations  to  the  newspapers  -regarding  me, 
and  Fisher  telling  Miss  True  that  there  were  no  charges 
against  me,  and  then,  when  the  scandalous  conduct  of  your  own 
Department  is  exposed,  you  rend  the  air  with  maledictions 
against  me  to  cover  up  the  rottenness  of  your  own  Department 
as  shown  in  Inspector  Singleton's  report. 

You  mention  a  charge  of  "inattention  to  duty"  but  state 
nothing  of  what  the  charge  consists.  The  records  show  that 
the  Service,  under  my  direction,  filed  during  the  last  fiscal  year. 
1717  new  cases,  secured  1168  convictions,  and  had  only  34  ac 
quittals  at  the  hands  of  juries.  We  have  secured  approxi 
mately  3400  convictions  since  I  have  had  charge  of  this  Service. 
All  this  has  been  accomplished  in  spite  of  the  subterranean  in 
trigues  of  that  bedlam  of  incompetency  officially  known  as  the 
Department  of  the  Interior.  Your  conception  of  "my  duty" 
seemed  to  be  that  of  sleeping  on  my  job.  From  that  standpoint 
I  am  justly  accused. 

You  gave  out  your  letter  of  November  29th  to  the  news 
papers  before  sending  it  to  me.  I  have  no  objections  to  that. 
I  will  give  out  copies  of  this  letter  to  the  newspapers.  Let 
everything  come  out.  Suppose  that  you  now  give  out  copies  of 
the  big  report  of  Inspector  Singleton  on  the  rotten  condition 
of  your  administration  in  New  Mexico.  People  are  clamoring 
for  it  and  you  are  standing  them  off  with  letters  saying  that 
the  "report  is  still  under  discussion,"  etc.  You  have  had  it 
"under  discussion"  for  seven  months.  Why  not  turn  it  loose 
and  let  the  people  "discuss"  it  for  a  while. 

My  dear  Mr.  Secretary:     Look  in  your  own  pockets — you 
may  find  that  Limburp'er  cheese  there. 
Respectfully, 

WILLIAM  E.  JOHNSON. 


28  THE  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ. 

MEMORIAL  OF  THE  SANTA  CLARA  PUEBLO  INDIANS 

Espanola,  N.  M.,  Oct.   n,   1911. 

DEAR  FRIEND:  We  are  forced  to  make  an  appeal  to  you  in  hope 
of  securing  some  redress  of  grievances  and  wrongs  which  we  have 
suffered  and  are  suffering  at  the  hands  of  the  Indian  Bureau. 

We  own  several  thousand  acres  of  well-watered  land.  Part  of 
this  is  an  executive  order  reservation  and  part  is  fee  simple  land 
owned  by  ourselves  under  a  Spanish  grant  confirmed  by  the  United 
States  Courts. 

For  seven  years  something  like  a  thousand  head  of  cattle  belong 
ing  to  politicians  have  overrun  our  lands,  eating  up  our  pasture, 
breaking  down  our  fences,  destroying  our  crops,  devastating  our 
fields,  and  depriving  us  of  our  principal  means  of  livelihood.  The 
Indian  Office  compels  us  to  submit  to  these  wrongs. 

Several  months  ago  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  sent  an  honest 
man  down  here  to  investigate,  Mr.  Shelby  M.  Singleton,  attorney  for 
the  Chicago  Citizens'  Association.  He  reported  fully  the  outrages  per 
petrated  upon  us  by  representatives,  of  the  Indian  Office  and  not 
only  recommended,  but  personally  pleaded  that  justice  be  done  us. 
Mr.  Singleton's  report  was  suppressed  by  the  politicians  and  he 
was  disgraced  for  recommending  that  the  abuses  be  corrected.  We 
beg  of  you  to  call  upon  the  Indian  Office  for  a  copy  of  Mr.  Single 
ton's  report  and  get  the  whole  truth. 

We  solemnly  protest  against  a  notorious  liquor  dealer  who  is 
president  and  director  of  a  drug  store  in  Santa  Fe,  which  we  have 
repeatedly  caught  selling  liquor  unlawfully,  being  retained  as  super 
intendent  of  the  school  where  we  have  to  send  our  children. 

We  plead  with  you  to  call  for  and  make  public  the  report  of  Mr. 
Singleton  and  help  us  protect  ourselves  against  the  wrongs  heaped 
upon  us  by  the  Indian  Office  in  the  interest  of  corrupt  politicians  and 
liquor  dealers. 

• 
(Signed)   SANTIAGO  NARANJO,  Governor  of  Santa  Clara  Pueblo. 

VICTORIANO  SISNEROS,  Lieutenant  Governor, 

FLORENTINO  SISNEROS,  Captain  of  War, 

CANDITO  TAFOYA,  Sheriff, 

JOSE  MARIA  NARANJO,  Cacique, 

JOSE  MANUEL  NARANJO,  Priest  of  the  Winter  Clan, 

LEANDER  TAFOYA,  Ex-Governor, 

FRANCISCO  NARANJO, 

ex-Gov.  and  Chief  of  the  Gen.  Fed.  of  Pueblo  Ind. 

MANUEL  TAFOYA,  Principale, 

PEDRO  CAJETE,  Principale. 

PEDRO  BACA,  Principale, 

ULOGIO  NARANJO,  Principale, 

JOSE  DOMINGO  OGUSTIERREZ,"  Councilman, 

VIDA  OGUSTIERREZ,  Councilman, 

VALENTINE  NARANJO,  Councilman, 

SEVERO  NARANJO,  Councilman. 


THE   STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  29 

GRIEVANCES  OF  THE  SANTA  CLARA  INDIANS,  REPORTED  AT 

THE  GENERAL  COUNCIL  OF  THE  FEDERATION 

OF  PUEBLO  INDIANS,  MAY,  1911 

1.  We  have  been  lied  to  and  lied  to  about  by  the  Superintendent 
until  the  situation  is  intolerable. 

2.  The  attorney  for  the  Pueblo  Indians  has  refused  to  serve  us 
in  any  capacity. 

3.  We  have  a  worthless  and  really  hostile  set  of  men  quartered 
upon  us  for  the  ostensible  protection  of  Santa  Clara  Reservation,  but 
really  to  keep  us  out  of  the  use  of  the  lands. 

4.  We  are  getting  little  use  of  our  reservation  lands,  although  we 
own  in  fee  simple  nearly  all  the  water,  if    not    actually    all,    of    Santa 
Clara  Creek.  The  Forest  Service  assumes  the  right  to  pasture  our  lands 
and  distribute  the  water  to  white  cattle  men.     They  say  they  need  the 
water.     So  do  we  and  we  own  it.     There  is  other  water  for  the  white 
men's  cattle.     We  do  not  get  anything  in  return  for  the  depredation  of 
our  lands  or  the  use  of  the  water,  although  we  are  supposed  to  receive 
grazing  and  wood. 

5.  We   want  to    know    our    legal    status    under    the    Treaty    of 
Guadalupe. 

6.  We  want  competent  legal  protection,  which  we  have  never  had, 
•except  for.  the  short  time  Judge  Pope  was  in  office  as  Pueblo  Attorney. 

7.  WE    INSIST    UPON    THE    SUPPRESSION    OF    THE 
LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

8.  We  ask  for  the  backing  up  of  our  Indians  when  they  take  up 
this  work  of  liquor  suppression. 

9.  We  want  better  schools.     Our  schools  grow  poorer  every  year, 
partly  from  the  lack  of  easily  supplied  equipment  and  partly  from  in 
difference. 

10.  We  ask  for  the  efforts  of  the  Indian  Office  to  be  used  for  the 
eradication   of  eye  troubles  and  consumption.     This  work  was  begun, 
but  'because  it  interfered  with  Mr.  Crandall's  policy  of  suppression  of 
publicity  of  the  distressing  condition  of  the  Indians  under  his  care,  he 
used  every  means  to  discourage  it. 

11.  We  want  better  farming  instruction.     Our  present  farmer  is  a 
farce. 

12.  We  want  a  better  Indian  police  force.    The  present  head  of  the 
police  force  wears  a  black  eye  a  good  part  of  the  time,  given  him  by  a 
drunken  wife. 

13.  WE    INSIST    THAT    ALL    GOVERNMENT    OFFICERS, 
WHITE  OR  INDIAN,  BE  DISCHARGED  FOR  DRUNKENNESS. 

14.  We  want  investigation  .of  the  Hobart  lands,  which  we  do  not 
believe  we   lost,  and  we  want  investigation  of  the  Guachipangi  water 
situation,  which  we  believe  a  fraud  upon  us  Indians. 

i.  We  ask  that  the  boundary  lines  of  our  reservation  be  straight 
ened  by  making  an  addition  to  the  reservation  from  the  forest  of 
Jemez.  his  land  is  ours  anyway.  We  bought  it  from  private  owners 
more  than  a  century  ago. 

16.  We  ask  that  Assistant  Commissioner  Abbott's  recommendation 
as  to  this  addition  be  most  carefully  looked  into.  He  recommended 
that  it  be  made,  but  that  our  reservation  be  taken  from  us  and  divided 
up  with  all  the  Tehua  tribes.  This  would  not  be  anything  but  a  punish 
ment  to  our  tribe  for  its  independence,  and  the  other  tribes  do  not  want 
to  steal  from  us.  There  is  plenty  of  land  to  give  them  without  taking 
away  ours. 


30  THE  STORY  OF  JUAN   CKUZ. 

"SMALLPOX"   TACTICS 

Espanola,  N.  Mex.,  April  23,  1911. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  JOHNSON: 

That  you  may  realize  some  of  the  difficulties  under  which  your  men 
labor  with  Mr.  Crandall's  constant  underground  opposition,  I  beg  to 
call  to  your  attention  the  fact  of  his  sending  out  letters  to  the  South 
ern  Pueblos  commanding  them  to  avoid  Santa  Clara  and  San  Ildefonso 
as  we  have  smallpox  in  those  villages.  He  says  in  these  letters  that 
in  addition  to  having  smallpox,  the  Santa  Clara's  are  bad  people.  The 
Governor  of  Cochiti  received  one  of  these  letters  and  gave  me  the  in 
formation  I  here  quote. 

There  is  not  and  has  not  been  a  case  of  smallpox  in  either  San 
Ildefonso  or  Santa  Clara  for  many  years.  There  in  no  smallpox  any 
where  else  that  we  have  any  knowledge  of  in  all  the  Espanola  country- 
There  is  not  even  a  sick  man,  woman,  or  child  in  Santa  Clara,  as  I 
can  make  affidavit,  and  nobody  knows  of  any  in  San  Ildefonso. 

The  two  villages  mentioned  have  quit  drinking.  Your  work  pros 
pers  in  both  places.  Mr.  Crandall  is  afraid  other  villages  will  come 
over  on  our  side  if  there  is  any  intercourse.  He  did  not  suppose  I 
would  get  the  information. 

If  the  Indians  in  San  Ildefonso  and  Santa  Clara  were  infected  with 
any  contagious  disease,  making  a  quarantine  necessary,  San  Juan 
would  be  infected  too,  as  it  is  only  six  miles  from  us  and  we  s-ee  each 
other  daily.  But  San  Juan  is  a  drunken  village  and  Mr.  Crandall  did 
not  wish  other  Indians  to  keep  away  from  there. 

I  am  very  sorry  our  Superintendent  secretly  hinders  moral  refor 
mation.  I  hope  you  will  call  the  attention  of  the  Commissioner  to  this 
matter.  We  should  have  a  hard  time  to  clean  up  the  villages  even  if 
we  had  all  possible  encouragement  from  officials.  As  it  is,  the  matter 
is  extremely  difficult.  Besides  being  your  deputy  here,  I  am  a  full- 
blood  Santa  Clara  Indian  and  therefore  I  think  I  should  protest. 
Very  respectfully, 

SEVERO  NARANJO, 
Deputy  Special  Officer. 

FATHER  HAELTERMAN  TELLS  OF  THE  REFORM 

Santa  Cruz,  N.  Mex.,  September  25,  191  r. 
MR.  W.  E.  JOHNSON, 
Denver,  Colo. 

DEAR  SIR: 

The  Friday's  issue  of  the  Denver  Times  telling  of  your  resigna 
tion  as  Indian  Official  came  as  a  shock  to  me;  it  was  the  last  thing 
I  had  thought  of. 

The  Service  never  had  a  man  who  worked  more  strenuously  and 
unremittingly  than  you  have  done  for  the  suppression  of  the  liquor 
traffic  among  the  Indians. 

I  was  hoping  the  men  in  Washington  at  the  head  of  the  Indian 
Bureau  would  show  their  appreciation  of  your  work  by  soon  giving 
you  a  well  deserved  promotion  and  am  at  a  loss  for  words  with  which 
to  express  my  sorrow  at  your  resigning,  as  it  will  be  a  difficult  task  to 
find  a  man  so  well  suited  to  your  place. 

The  good  you  have  done  among  my  Indians  here  by  your  tireless 
efforts  in  their  behalf  is  already  apparent.  Among  the  Santa  Clara's 
for  instance,  where  a  few  years  ago  much  drunkenness  and  abuse  ex 
isted,  there  is  now  perfect  harmony.  Several  men  who  were  accu?- 


THE:  STORY  OF  JUAN   CRUZ.  31 

tcmed  to  beat  their  wives  are  now  model  husbands  since  they  leave 
liquor  alone. 

Another  man  who  was  under  the  influence  of  drink  all  the  time 
and  very  quarrelsome  and  troublesome  among  his  people  is  now  one 
of  the  most  respected  and  respectful  men  I  have  in  my  parish. 

Your  absence  from  the  Service  would  be  a  great  loss  to  the  In 
dians,  all  of  whom  consider  you  the  best  friend  they  have.  It  will  be 
a  loss  to  me  in  many  ways,  as  you  have  helped  my  people  where  others 
failed. 

Every  man  in  Washington  who  knows  of  your  work  cannot  but 
admit  that  in  accepting  your  resignation  the  Indian  Service  loses  the 
best  man  it  ever  had. 

In  view  of  all  this  I  beg  you  to  reconsider  the  matter  and  recall 
your  resignation. 

Such  men  as  you  are  too  scarce,  we  cannot  afford  to  lose  a  single 
one.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

REV.  G.  HAELTERMAN, 
(Missionary  Priest  in  charge  of  the  Parish  of  Santa  Cruz.) 

AN  INDIAN  APPRECIATION 

Espanola,  N.  M.,  S»ept.  19,  1911. 
MR.  W.  E.  JOHNSON, 

Chief  Special  Officer,  U.  S.  I.  S., 
Denver,  Colo. 

DEAR  SIR:  The  Pueblo  of  Santa  Clara,  mindful  of  its  regenera 
tion  through  your  efforts,  most  cordially  invites  you  to  be  its  guest  for 
as  long  a  time  as  you  will  -enjoy  it.  Horses,  saddles,  guns,  guides  and 
tents,  with  the  best  rations  at  your  command,  will  be  provided  you  as 
long  as  you  can  make  use  of  them.  We  hope  you  will  come  to  us  and 
go  to  the  mountains  for  a  much  needed  rest.  All  w>e  have  is  yours 
now  and  always.  This  is  but  small  pay  for  the  manhood  you  have  re 
stored  to  this  village  by  stopping  the  liquor  traffic  here.  We  know  yon 
helped  us  at  the  price  of  your  position.  No  other  man  in  the  Indian 
Service  would  have  risked  his  head  by  staying  with  us  and  saving  the 
life  of  Juan  Cruz.  You  may  go  down  in  apparent  defeat  before  the 
whisky  ring  at  Washington  but  in  the  Hearts  of  a  quarter  of  a  million 
American  Indians,  you  are  a  hero.  There  is  probably  not  one  of  this 
great  number  but  what  has  come  under  the  influence  of  your  work. 

Come  and  be  a  good  Indian  with  us. 
Very  sincerely, 

THE  COUNCIL  OE  SANTA  CLARA, 

By  VlCTORIANO   SlSNEROS, 

Acting  Governor. 

THANKS  FROM  THE  JUAN  CRUZ  DEFENSE  COMMITTEE 


Tierra  Amarilla,  N.  M.,  June  21,  1911. 
COMMISSIONER  INDIAN  AEEAIRS, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Juan  Cruz  today  declared  Federal  officer  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duty,  when  he  killed  Garcia,  February  fourth,  McFie  rendering  opinion. 
We  desire  to  thank  you  for  assistance  of  Chief  Special  Officer  Johnson. 
His  service  in  this  case  cannot  be  too  enthusiastically  described.  Not 
only  did  he  save  the  Indian,  but  he  secured  from  the  Court  a  decision 
which  will  go  down  in  the  legal  history  of  New  Mexico  for  the  pro- 


32  THE  STORY  or   JTAN    CKUZ. 

tection  of  future  operations  by  Indian  Office  employes  engaged  in  the 
suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic. 

MARY  T.  BRYAN,  Secretary, 
Juan  Cruz  Defense  Committee. 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  AT  THE  TERRITORIAL  CONVENTION 

OF  THE  NEW  MEXICO  W.  C.  T.  U.,  AT  LAS  VEGAS, 

N.  M.,  OCTOBER  19,  20,  21,  1911 

Be  it  resolved,  That  this  convention  congratulates  the  Indians  of 
Santa  Clara  Pueblo  on  their  attitude  in  the  liquor  suppression  ques 
tion  and  commends  that  village  for  its  splendid  record  of  nearly  300 
Indians  who  have  become  total  abstainers  through  the  reform  move 
ment  instituted  in  New  Mexico  by  Chief  Special  Officer  of  the  Indian 
Bureau,  W.  E.  Johnson. 

We  deplore  the  present  conditions  of  the  liquor  suppression  de 
partment  of  the  new  state,  resulting  from  official  departmental  hin 
drances,  and  an  effort  to  sustain  in  position  over  the  Indians,  men  of 
notorious  character  and  men  directly  interested  in  the  unlawful  sale 
of  liquor. 

We  deem  the  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  the  wid 
est  publicity  of  our  sentiments  and  shall  supply  to  the  officials  in 
charge  of  Indian  Affairs,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the  Chair 
man  of  the  Indian  Committee  in  the  House  and  Senate,  copies  of  this 
resolution. 


JOHNSON  DEFIES  HIS  PERSECUTORS 

[TELEGRAM] 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  Oct.  10,  1911. 
VALENTINE,  Indian  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Yesterday  the  booze  interests  here  had  a  very  good  inning.  Super 
intendent  Crandall  had  me  in  jail  for  several  hours.  I  had  to  get  an 
order  from  the  District  Court  t>efore  the  Sheriff  would  accept  a  thou 
sand  dollar  bond  from  sureties  who  were  able  to  qualify  in  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  furnished  the  bail  pending  habeas  corpus  proceedings.  Hun 
dreds  of  the  politicians'  cattle  are  in  possession  of  the  Santa  Clara 
Indian  lands  and  the  Indian  Office  refuses  to  interfere.  You  are  de 
priving  these  Indians  of  their  means  of  livelihood  for  political  graft's 
sake.  I  am  ready  to  go  to  jail  as  often  and  for  as  long  as  the  Indian 
Office  and  the  liquor  interests  desire  if  it  will  help  remedy  these  out 
rages  that  the  Indian  administration  is  inflicting  upon  these  defence 
less  people.  You  can't  make  me  suffer  as  much  as  you  have  already 
caused  these  Indians  to  suffer. 

WTT.T.TAM  TV 


Jhnmtmitioii 
for  the  Campaign  of 

Supplied   by 

Cbe  American  finance 

Che  Great,  Progressive,  Prohibition  Weekly 


"American  Advance"  is  the  great  voice  of  the   cen 
tury's  forward  movement. 

If  you  wish  to  be  informed  on  every  news  topic  con 
nected  with  the  war  on  the  liquor  traffic — 

Subscribe  for  it  Now!  The  regular  subscription 
price  is  $1.50  per  year;  but  a  fund  raised  for  campaign 
purposes  enables  the  publishers  to  offer  it  to  the  readers 
of  "The  Story  of  Juan  Cruz"  for 

ONE    DOLLAR   A   YEAR 


|  "American  Advance"  is  published  at  the  headquarters 

and  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  Prohibition 
National  Committee.  It  has  the  entire  service  of  the 
National  Prohibition  Press  news  gathering  resources. 


Remit,  payable  to — 

Hmevican  Hbvance 

106  n.  Ca  Sail*  Street    :  :  :  ,    Cfticago,  HI. 


...... 


HERBERT  A.    CBY         ^\.  31      WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 


